HADLEY — A Hadley-specific business organization that would serve as a conduit of getting information between businesspeople and town officials is in the early stages of formation.

The Select Board on Wednesday voiced its encouragement for the creation of the Hadley Business Council, a group being proposed by board member Molly Keegan, who co-owns Curran & Keegan Financial, and Kishore Parmar, vice president of the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group.

Keegan said the idea is that the council would be an independent group made up of business owners, both large and small, along with other segments of Hadley’s commercial activity, including the significant agricultural enterprises in town.

The council could provide a voice for business owners and also act as a sounding board for proposals from the town, Keegan said.

“So that when there are various initiatives or changes that the town might be contemplating in terms of policies that would have an impact on the business community, it would be eyes and ears we could tap into,” Keegan said.

“The primary goal is also to improve communication with the business community,” Keegan added.

Such a council would supplement some of the work already done by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, including informing businesses about changing rules and requirements, like the recent implementation in the new year of the plastic reduction bylaw.

Parmar, who anticipates taking a lead role in recruiting people to serve on the council, gave another example for how the council might help. The ongoing Route 9 reconstruction has been a challenge for businesses, he said, but there is currently no place for businesspeople to come together for conversations and offering a unified voice to the town or state about how to address their concerns.

“I know there are people who would be interested in it and would like to have that communication,” Parmar said.

In addition, Parmar said a lot of small businesses don’t know how to navigate municipal permitting.

Select Board member Randy Izer, who in his professional life runs Harold L. Eaton & Associates, a land surveyor for both residential and commercial projects, also gave support to the business council concept. He said there needs to be a centralized group to bring back suggestions to the Select Board.

Izer said he would like to see more information available about getting a business started. “We need one-stop shopping in Town Hall,” Izer said.

There could also be development of a document that has all the details of the permitting process in one place.

Select Board Chairwoman Jane Nevinsmith, who once ran Stuff-It Storage, said she is familiar with the needs of businesses. “I think it would be well appreciated and encourage businesses to not be overwhelmed,” Nevinsmith said.

Select Board member Joyce Chunglo said better communication is a good idea, as well as possibly have a distinct entity for Hadley businesses from the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. Hadley, she said, has a thriving commercial sector that might appreciate a stand-alone organization, rather than the chamber, which serves several communities on the east side of the Connecticut River.

“I would like us to be our own,” Chunglo said.

But Keegan said the business council is not intended to supplant or separate from the Amherst Area Chamber and that that organization has been a good friend to the Hadley business community under the current leadership of Executive Director Claudia Pazmany.

“We’re looking to work with Claudia to leverage that since it already exists,” Keegan said.

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